John Keely's Floating Mini-Solar System

Keely had the honor of exhibiting his Musical Globe at the World's Fair in the late 1880's. The Musical Globe was a spherical device which had one side painted white and the other painted black. When properly tuned, it could be excited by the simple act of playing a harmonica. This would cause the Globe to slowly spin under its own power which was derived from an arrangement of vibrating components within the sphere.

John Jacob Astor and his entourage were visiting the various exhibits and had seen little of novelty or interest. However, they did find Keely's exhibit intriguing. Keely immediately recognized who Mr. Astor was (and the extent of his fortune) and spoke with him in private. Keely told Mr. Astor that the "good stuff" was in his laboratory and he would be only too happy to demonstrate a fascinating experiment if Mr. Astor could manage to visit the lab. Being bored with the rest of the fair, Mr. Astor decided to take Keely up on the offer and went to the lab.

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